ROAD TRIP DAY FOUR: Hiking in the foothills of the Rwenzoris then back to Kampala

OK...I NEVER wanted to leave! What an amazing, beautiful, affordable place to stay! I am coming back...hopefully when I return to climb with friends (if I can coax anyone to join me). I might just return to stay and renew my soul and spirit...this would be the place.

We slept in until 7 AM-ish...how wonderful that felt. I was stoked for our hike though John and Bob begged out to enjoy the Lodge. I can't say I blame them. It was hard to make that decision myself...that is until we started on our way....my heart was skipping beats out of excitement (or was that the altitude?)

Starting out over 5,000 feet! 

I met the guide after breakfast but he looked rather familiar to me. I think we both realized this at the same time and both cocked our heads and pursed our lips saying "Do I know you?" Turns out Enoch remembered me first. He even knew my name! What a great surprise! He sent along another young man, Samuel, to "guide us" on our hike. Samuel was able to tell us many interesting facts about the area as we headed up the steep footpaths to get a view of the mountains.

reminds me of home

I was glad for this as he did all the talking (so that I could breathe!). Despite the fact I had not been in the mountains now for over 6 months, my very being enjoyed every breathless step! I was on a high! We were blessed with some light rain to cool us down and passed many small huts built into the side of the steep hills.

Crossing the river

Eric asked about water...turns out they have to come down to the valley several times a day for water, work, school and other things. These kids run up these paths...puts us to shame. Our guide himself grew up here and has climbed the local peaks countless times already.

houses on the hillside
(the haze is the rain we hiked through)

Samuel then lead us to a non-descript field saying "Here we are!" Unfortunately, due to the recent rain and clouds, we didn't get our view of Mt Margherita (5109 m or 16,761.81 feet). This was OK as the views were again breathtaking! Our path down, however, was thigh breaking. It was a steep sloppy, muddy mess. I took Eric's lead using a stick to help me stay on my feet. I think the women we passed in the fields thought we were pretty funny all covered with mud and using a utensil to stay afoot!

a hillside home

The trip was a perfect 3 hours and we returned just in time for lunch! The saddest part was leaving though I promised them I WOULD be back. how could I not????? OK...well, maybe the saddest thing was really the 7 hour drive home (though Eric assured us that it was only 4...only a slight underestimation). We took the northern route back home. He was a trooper....having the stamina to drive well into dark.

beauty abounds in unusual flora and fauna

Speaking of troopers.....we had a strong minded female police officer stop us to finance a lacking payroll. Eric was ever so kind and obliged not even being upset about anything other than the waste of time. He was quite compassionate to the plight of the government workers NOT being paid since January.

A sign on the path
(don't know what it says but looks like
one ought to hold up a sign here)

The funny thing about this whole thing was, when the officer was arguing her point she spotted John popping a piece of gum in his mouth. She then, without skipping a beat, said "I'll take that!" and took the rest of his bubble pack. John smiled, obliging saying "Sure, you can have it! I'll warn you though, it has nicotine in it!" He laughed and she laughed back and continued to argue the reason we need to pay the fine. I don't think she really understood. "Well" said John, "I warned her!". We all got a chuckle out of this thinking she will either be spinning or throwing up soon.

Our Lodge is down in that valley somewhere

The mountains are nowhere to be seen 

At the top

A house being built.
They will cover the walls with mud

We were all completely exhausted by the time we got back to Kampala.  Two of the four of us had to get up early for work the next morning. The guys kindly went out of their way to drop me off safely inside my gated community (Monastery). I cannot believe everything we jammed into 4 days...I felt like I was gone for a week!

L to R
(Enoch, Me, Samuel, Eric) 

I am ever so grateful to them for allowing me to tag along on this trip. I am sure I would not have ventured out on my own and I would have been hesitant spending money on myself that I needed for the kids. THANK YOU Marty and Sabrina for this much needed mental and emotional reprieve...THANK YOU Eric for planning all of this and allowing me to come along and THANK YOU John and Bob, not only for making me lunch and supper over the last few weeks, but also for taking your precious time to visit and help out at the Bethlehem Home.

I wish all of you safe journey home and blessings to you and your families for your kindness!